The fantasmatic narrative of ‘sustainable development’. A political analysis of the 2030 Global Development Agenda

Juan Telleria and Jorge Garcia-Arias
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Juan Telleria: 16402University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Spain

Environment and Planning C, 2022, vol. 40, issue 1, 241-259

Abstract: The article offers a critical analysis of the United Nations 2030 Global Development Agenda, whose stated aim is to "transform the world" in such a way that no one is left behind. Drawing on post-Marxist theory, we argue that the 2030 Global Development Agenda is a fantasmatic narrative seeking to conceal the conflictual causes and the antagonistic origins of global development and sustainability issues. Within this fantasmatic narrative, ‘sustainable development’ is the empty signifier that articulates and sustains the agenda’s discourse. Our analysis of the ontological assumptions underpinning the documents that frame the agenda shows that, rather than transforming, the agenda naturalizes and consolidates the existing status quo: a status quo that has created (and continues to perpetuate) the global problems that the agenda aims to solve.

Keywords: post-Marxism; Sustainable Development Goals; Paris Agreement; Addis Ababa Action Agenda; Fantasmatic Narrative; 2030 Agenda (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envirc:v:40:y:2022:i:1:p:241-259

DOI: 10.1177/23996544211018214

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